7:30 UPDATE:
The last time Republicans faced a crisis of succession for Speaker of the House, they turned to a quiet figure from the Land of Lincoln, Dennis Hastert, to lead them. With Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), the House GOP may again find the answer in Illinois.
6:20 UPDATE:
The math doesn’t look good for Paul Ryan at this time.
“I have been talking to lots of conservative members and he is going to have the same problems getting to 218 [votes] that McCarthy did,” Glyn Wright, the executive director of Eagle Forum, told Breitbart News.
“It would be tough [to see Ryan get 218 votes],” a senior GOP aide—this one to a senior House Freedom Caucus member—told Breitbart News.
With 247 House Republicans in the House, the only thing conservatives need to do to keep Ryan from getting to 218 votes is deliver 29 conservative votes against him.
6:16 UPDATE:
Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) tells The Hill newspaper he thinks the media is behind the push of Ryan for Speaker. “I think that’s more media-driven. I think that’s you guys who keep talking about Paul Ryan,” Fleming said. “Paul has made it clear he’s not interested.”
4:25 UPDATE:
Boston-area radio host Howie Carr spent the first hour of his program on Friday bashing Ryan’s liberal voting record, hammering away at the falsely-created media notion that Ryan is somehow respected among conservatives.
He also used his Boston Herald column to rip apart the notion that Ryan is a conservative.
“Paul Ryan? Are you kidding me? Paul Ryan … more like Paul Ryan-o, as in RINO.
Republican in Name Only,” Carr, who’s massively influential in the all-important first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire, wrote in the Herald.
After walking through the epic fail of Kevin McCarthy, Carr proceeds to critique Ryan more.
And now it’s the turn of Paul RINO. He was described last night by National Review as ‘the undisputed intellectual leader’ of House Republicans, which is like being an admiral in the Swiss Navy,” Carr wrote. “I wonder. Until last night, RINO didn’t want the job. He’s been around the block. He knows what happens when you become speaker. It’s like becoming capo of a crime family — there’s a target painted on your back. Why didn’t Rep. RINO want to run for speaker in the first place? Does he know something the rest of us don’t — yet?
4:05 UPDATE:
Failed 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney called Paul Ryan on Friday, urging his former running mate to run for Speaker of the House. CNN’s Deirdre Walsh cites House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) as confirming the news.
Even with that call from Romney however, and Upton’s comments, it’s still unclear if Ryan would be able to unite the party and reach 218 GOP votes or more. Vote math is starting to suggest Ryan would run into the same problems as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy or outgoing House Speaker John Boehner, neither of whom could get enough GOP support to win the Speakership. Meanwhile, Upton’s Energy and Commerce vice chair Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is openly considering a run for the House Speakership. Given the rumors of an alleged affair with McCarthy—both McCarthy and Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) deny it—a female GOP speaker with conservative credentials may be a refreshing start for the clearly broken party. Blackburn is someone who is respected conference-wide among moderates and conservatives and could unite the GOP against the Democrats and the president. Ryan, on the other hand, is having serious problems convincing conservatives that—with his endorsement from pro-amnesty advocate Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and his work in favor of amnesty and Obamatrade—that he would be any better than the current leadership team.
3:40 UPDATE: Phyllis Schlafly, founder and chairwoman of the conservative Eagle Forum, issued a statement saying Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) would be the same kind of leader conservatives have rejected in outgoing House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).
Tryouts for Speaker continue. The kingmakers are so desperate for someone to carry their liberal priorities that they are trying to force Congressman Paul Ryan into a job he does not want. Proven by his record, Chairman Ryan would be the same type of leader as outgoing Speaker Boehner. Ryan voted to give special rights to homosexuals in 2007 (ENDA), he voted to bail out Wall Street in 2008 (TARP), and upon becoming Chairman of the Budget Committee in 2011, he used his position of power to help punish conservatives for voting their conscience. This year, he voted to fund President Obama’s unconstitutional amnesty, and as chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means committee, he championed the massive power giveaway to President Obama through Trade Promotion Authority. Just ten days ago, he voted to continue funding Planned Parenthood in spite of a federal investigation into their immoral practices. This is not about personality, it’s about principle. The grassroots want a Speaker who will lead a coalition government, where their voices are truly represented. Paul Ryan would continue the top-down approach to government and the culture of retribution for dissenting voices. Republicans should find a Speaker who is committed to conservative principles and who will stand up and fight to return power to the people.
2:51 UPDATE: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who was considering running for Speaker, endorsed Ryan on Friday. “The fact is, Paul Ryan is the right man right now, he has moderate support and he very clearly has conservative support,” Issa said. “Members of the Freedom Caucus have come to me one after the other saying, ‘Let Paul know we would be with him.’ That’s a very good sign after the strained relations that John Boehner had with that same caucus.” It’s unclear which Freedom Caucus members he is talking about because not a single one has publicly said they would support Ryan.
2:40 UPDATE:
Renee Ellmers Denounces “False Witness.”‘ Rep. Renee Ellmers continued to deny rumors of an affair with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, issuing a statement today as the rumors went public. “As someone who has been targeted by completely false accusations and innuendo, I have been moved by the outpouring of support and prayers from my colleagues, constituents and friends,” she said. “Now I will be praying for those who find it acceptable to bear false witness.” McCarthy has remained silent about the rumors.
2:28 UPDATE:
Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s office confirms: she is openly considering a bid for the Speakership. “Marsha has heard from a lot of people who are encouraging her to run,” Blackburn spokesman Mike Reynard tells Breitbart News. “Right now she is listening and having conversations with her colleagues about what is the best way to unite our conference moving forward.” Unlike Ryan, Blackburn has widespread respect GOP conference-wide—among conservatives and moderates. Ryan’s support base, mainstream media narrative creation aside, is among the establishment, donor-class and moderate wing of the GOP. Conservatives aren’t hugely supportive of him because of the fact he has been involved in pushing things like the 2008 TARP bank bailout, Obamatrade, and amnesty including funding for Obama’s executive amnesty.
2:15 UPDATE:
Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, lobbies for Darrell Issa as Speaker. Issa endorsed Paul Ryan on Friday and said he would only consider a bid if Ryan doesn’t run.
1:57 UPDATE:
Eagle Forum founder and chairman Phyllis Schlafly, a decades-long conservative movement leader with tons of influence on Capitol Hill, is making explicit that in no way should Paul Ryan even be considered for the House speakership. “Tryouts for Speaker continue,” Schlafly said in a statement on Friday.
The kingmakers are so desperate for someone to carry their liberal priorities that they are trying to force Congressman Paul Ryan into a job he does not want. Proven by his record, Chairman Ryan would be the same type of leader as outgoing Speaker Boehner. Ryan voted to give special rights to homosexuals in 2007 (ENDA), he voted to bail out Wall Street in 2008 (TARP), and upon becoming Chairman of the Budget Committee in 2011, he used his position of power to help punish conservatives for voting their conscience. This year, he voted to fund President Obama’s unconstitutional amnesty, and as chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means committee, he championed the massive power giveaway to President Obama through Trade Promotion Authority. Just ten days ago, he voted to continue funding Planned Parenthood in spite of a federal investigation into their immoral practices.
Schlafly continued by calling for a return to principled government, something that is impossible with Ryan at the helm. “This is not about personality, it’s about principle,” Schlafly said. “The grassroots want a Speaker who will lead a coalition government, where their voices are truly represented. Paul Ryan would continue the top-down approach to government and the culture of retribution for dissenting voices. Republicans should find a Speaker who is committed to conservative principles and who will stand up and fight to return power to the people.”
1:55 UPDATE:
Influential conservative South Carolina blog FitsNews has come out swinging against Ryan’s potential speakership candidacy, calling him “more of the same.” “A movement in Washington, D.C. is underway to replace one establishment ‘Republican’ with another … again,” FitsNews wrote.
Originally, the status quo plan was to replace outgoing liberal U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner with his right-hand man, Kevin McCarthy of California. Oh, and then pass a two-year budget with the intention of safeguarding Washington’s bipartisan spending orgy from a new GOP president and a more conservative Congress (assuming voters elected such leaders). The first part of that plan fell apart in spectacular fashion this week … and is continuing to unravel as we speak. McCarthy abruptly removed his name from consideration on Thursday … apparently with good reason. Now, the panicked GOP donor class – the same crowd pushing ‘Obamatrade’ and other crony capitalist nonsense in our nation’s capital – is trying to draft former GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan. Ryan is an ‘Obamatrade’ champion – among a host of other anti-freedom, anti-free market positions.
If Ryan does decide to run for Speaker, he would need to be able to convince influential members of the South Carolina delegation such as Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC)—who was spotted talking to Ryan on the House floor on Thursday according to the Daily Beast—and others to support him. But with voters in South Carolina being rapidly informed about Ryan’s outside-the-mainstream positions on immigration, trade and more, it’s unlikely that people like Mulvaney would—even if they like Ryan as a person—be able to cast a vote for him for Speaker of the House on the floor. So this further complicates the math for Ryan as it’s becoming more and more clear that Ryan will likely have issues getting to 218 votes on the floor, should he run.
1:50 UPDATE:
While giving a speech at the National Press Club, GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson was asked about his thoughts on what is happening today in the race for the Speaker of the House. “Paul Ryan is a fine person, I like him. I like a lot of people in Congress,“ Carson said. He added that he hopes a lot of different people will present their position to leadership and let their voice be heard. “I would have a policy of talking,” Carson said. “The current administration doesn’t talk a lot to the people of Congress…how can you come to resolutions without talking?”
1:44 UPDATE:
Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) reportedly thanked her colleagues for their “prayers and support” during a closed-door meeting Friday, amid unseemly rumors about an alleged affair between her and House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy.
1:15 UPDATE:
Rep. Jason Chaffetz had to explain his response to a question about wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood at the House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. Chaffetz, who chairs the House Oversight Committee that held its own hearing last week, said Republicans’ investigation into Planned Parenthood’s use of federal funds has turned up no “wrongdoing.” However, as previously reported, Chaffetz, a supporter of Rep. Paul Ryan for House Speaker, sent a memo to Oversight Committee members released ahead of the hearing that accused the organization of exorbitant travel costs and lavish parties. In addition, the memo specified that Richards was paid $590,928 in 2013. She told committee members, however, during the hearing her annual compensation is $520,000. Chaffetz said during the Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, “Did I look at the finances and have a hearing specifically as to the revenue portion and how they spend? Yes. Was there any wrongdoing? I didn’t find any.” He said:
The context of the comments that I made were in relationship to a hearing as the chairman of the Oversight Committee that I conducted. The hearing that we conducted in Oversight was about the finances of Planned Parenthood. We didn’t get into the content of what they do. We didn’t get into the content of the video. We didn’t get into the practices that they do. We didn’t get into the fetal body tissue issues. We didn’t do that. We were very narrowly focused on the finances. The point we were making is that Planned Parenthood have revenue of $127 million more than their expenses. And we started to look as a non-profit organization on what people were making and how they were spending that money. They were spending money overseas, they were spending money and giving it to political organizations. They have a lot of shared services. I think that’s a legitimate question as we look at the finances of an organization that’s structured as a non-profit organization. I was asked a direct question about the finances – that’s the way I took the question because that’s what the drive and the hearing was about – did we find any wrongdoing? The answer was “No.” It is inappropriate to suggest that I have come to some grand conclusion about every part of their operation.
1:10 UPDATE:
In 2013, Rep. Paul Ryan touted federal legislation which aimed to create a national board to set some workers’ wages.
1:05 UPDATE:
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest is praising Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), the House Freedom Caucus member whose decision to bring forth a motion to vacate the chair ended up leading to Boehner’s decision to resign, Breitbart News has learned exclusively. “It was Mark Meadows who risked his status and position in congress to do the right thing and initiate a change in leadership,” Forest said in a statement. “He did it for all the right reasons and fully understanding the consequences to his political career. It often takes great courage to stand up and do the right thing in Washington and Mark displayed great courage when he stood up to his leadership team for the people of this great country. He took the first step and others have followed… isn’t that the very definition of leadership? Mark Meadows is a strong leader and a great congressman and I am proud to call him a friend.” Meadows has received widespread support in his state for the effort to remove Boehner as Speaker. Boehner announced his resignation when it became clear he no longer had enough GOP support to win reelection as Speaker and would have either lost the vote if the motion to vacate the chair came up or would have needed Democrats to bail him out. Meadows has been intricately involved in helping shape the process of a push for new Republican leadership post-Boehner as well, and is pushing for a fresh team that will represent the wishes of Americans rather than what Ryan would do on behalf of the donor class.
12:51 UPDATE:
Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez is endorsing Paul Ryan for Speaker of the House of Representatives. Gutierrez, perhaps the most extreme open-borders advocate in Congress, was interviewed on MSNBC.
12:40 UPDATE:
Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) is pushing Ryan for Speaker. Cole is one of Boehner’s closest allies. “I think eventually Paul Ryan will get into this thing, I really do [think he will win],” Cole said on MSNBC. “I think we’ve had two guys fall on their swords for the good of the conference. In this case it’s hard not to step up when there’s an overwhelming demand.” Cole admitted last year he was involved in writing the more-than-1,500-page-long so-called “CRomnibus” spending bill that eventually funded President Obama’s executive amnesty—despite a now broken promise from Boehner and his allies to fight “tooth and nail” against the executive amnesty—in a literal cigar-smoke-filled back room. “There’s no secrets in this body,” Cole said in a contentious House Rules Committee hearing on the cromnibus. “John Kline [a Minnesota Republican who chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee] is my best friend in the United States Congress, and George Miller [a California Democrat who’s the ranking member of that committee] is certainly one of my best friends on the other side of the aisle. I’ve had the opportunity to talk about this particular pension problem over a cigar at the end of the day on more than one occasion. I’ve heard about his great frustrations and the cost and the only other person who seemed to realize the problem was named George Miller, which was pretty shocking in and of itself.” They went on for several minutes discussing how the bill was written and negotiated over cigars and Cole also called Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) “my partner.” Of course, Cole’s backing of Ryan means if any other members get in line with Cole behind Ryan they risk being tainted with the same ghastly images of writing bills in cigar-smoke-filled back rooms in Washington, D.C. Ryan’s support for TARP—the 2008 bank bailout, for which he made an impassioned plea on the House floor for everyone to support—has also been making the rounds around the conservative movement for some time now.
12:22 UPDATE:
A vote for Paul Ryan for Speaker of the House by any Republican member will be considered a vote for amnesty for illegal aliens by the strongest grassroots anti-amnesty organization in America, NumbersUSA. NumbersUSA’s director of government relations Rosemary Jenks tells Breitbart News exclusively that the group will consider any vote for Ryan—especially after his endorsement for Speaker from Democratic pro-amnesty Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)—a vote for amnesty. “A vote for Paul Ryan is a vote for Gang of Eight style amnesty that includes massive increases in legal immigration and replacing American workers with foreign-born workers. A vote for Paul Ryan is a vote to continue Obama’s transformation of America.” After this, it will be hard for any Republican to explain to their constituents why they voted for amnesty by voting for Paul Ryan if they do.
12:18 UPDATE:
The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal is joining the donor class in its call for Paul Ryan to “stand as the only potential Speaker” who could stop what it refers to as the “Republican Crack-Up.” The WSJ board refers to the conservative House Freedom Caucus as “refuseniks.” “The rebels don’t have nearly enough support to stand up their own man, but they can blow up all House business and decapitate the leadership of their own party,” the board writes. “The danger is that having deposed Mr. Boehner and now Mr. McCarthy, they will refuse to back anyone who won’t meet their demands.” Citing Donald Trump and Ted Cruz as “vessels” for the frustration of the Freedom Caucus, the editorial board says the conservatives lack a “realistic or even remotely plausible strategy” to achieve their goals. “Mr. Ryan may be the only Republican with the national standing and conservative credentials to defy the Cruz ultimatums,” the board writes. “He’d be assailed with the usual sellout and surrender epithets, any future presidential ambitions might suffer, and he’d have less time for his young children. But he could save the House majority from self-destruction.”
12:13 UPDATE:
Paul Ryan will have trouble distancing himself from John Boehner. He volunteered for the outgoing Speaker while in college.
NOON UPDATE:
Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS) is seriously considering nominating Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), a well-respected Republican member and serious alternative to Ryan, for Speaker of the House. “Like his colleagues, Mississippi Congressman Steven Palazzo is actively discussing options for Speaker of the House with fellow Republican members of Congress. Palazzo has now indicated that he is pushing for Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN) as the next Speaker,” Frank Corder, a blogger for Mississippi blog Y’All Politics, wrote in a Friday morning post. “Blackburn is a Mississippi native, born in Jones County, and has represented Tennessee’s 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2003.” Palazzo made the announced on WMXI 98.1FM radio in the PineBelt area of Mississippi, and Corder wrote that he “noted that should the discussions prove fruitful on Blackburn he would be willing to nominate her for the post.” “A call to Palazzo’s staff by Y’all Politics confirmed the Congressman’s intent,” Corder added.
Blackburn is an attractive candidate for Speaker in that she has broad appeal among Republicans and is well respected by her colleagues. Few can question her conservative bona fides, making Blackburn a potential consensus candidate for Speaker. Many believe Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan to be the one Congressmen who could unify the party in the House but he has repeatedly declined to offer up his name for consideration. Texas Rep. Mike Conaway has also been mentioned by sources close to the discussions.
Blackburn would be someone who would be able to unite the entire GOP conference and doesn’t have the support—like Ryan does—of Democrats like Luis Gutierrez. She’s also opposed to amnesty for illegal aliens and hasn’t been supportive of many of the big government programs that Ryan, alongside Boehner’s side, has pushed.
11:42 UPDATE:
One of the most vocal advocates for amnesty has given his stamp of approval to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) for House Speaker, according to Huffington Post reporter Sam Stein. Friday Stein tweeted that Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) “says Paul Ryan would be a good Speaker and work w/ Dems. Then says he probably just hurt Ryan’s chances by saying that.”
Gutierrez and Ryan have worked together in the past, notably on comprehensive immigration reform. In that pursuit, in 2013 Gutierrez said he saw Ryan as his “ally” in fighting for amnesty for illegal immigrants. “So, when I sit down and talk to people, I clear the table, so I can see Paul Ryan not as budget chairman, not as somebody whose budget I have voted and will always vote against, but as a friend and an ally to free 11 million people,” Gutierrez said in 2013 on Democracy Now about his push for immigration reform. “So, I create new friendships and new relationships in regards to comprehensive immigration reform, because, let’s face it, Democrats didn’t do it in 2007, 2008–we were in the majority. Democrats didn’t do it in 2009 and 2010–we were in the majority. Now we’ve got to do it.”
11:40 UPDATE:
Rep. Paul Ryan’s spokesperson Brendan Buck released the following statement this morning to assure everyone that he was not running for Speaker. “Chairman Ryan appreciates the support he’s getting from his colleagues but is still not running for Speaker,” Buck said in a short statement sent to reporters. Ryan has not changed his position from yesterday since he immediately declined to run after House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy abruptly decided to drop his bid for Speaker. However Boehner and McCarthy and their allies have lobbied heavily for Ryan to change his mind. In spite of Ryan’s refusals, many senior GOP establishment figures have been optimistically telling reporters that he may reconsider.
11:36 UPDATE:
GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) previously told WABC Radio’s Rita Cosby that the House must select a “strong conservative” for Speaker of the House:
What I have consistently encouraged House Republicans to do in selecting a speaker, is to elect a strong conservative. And I think the most important characteristic of the next speaker, is that he or she be committed to honoring the promises that we made to the men and women who elected us. I think the American people are frustrated out of their minds with Washington. They’re frustrated with Republican leadership, because they haven’t been honoring those promises of standing up and fighting the disastrous Obama agenda, and I hope the next speaker is committed to doing so.
11:34 UPDATE:
Paul Ryan isn’t yet ready to run: “Chairman Ryan appreciates the support he’s getting from his colleagues but is still not running for Speaker,” according to a statement from his office. 11:32 UPDATE:
“We have a power-based system where a few people at the top of the pyramid of power make all the decisions,” Rep. Daniel Webster says. “All I want to do is what I did in Florida: Push down that pyramid of power, spread out the power base so every member gets a say. That’s all I want.” Webster is a former Speaker of the Florida House. 11:25 UPDATE:
Mark Levin comes out against Paul Ryan:
11:23 UPDATE:
Will Paul Ryan Satisfy Conservatives Looking For a Fight? On key issues important to insurgent House conservatives, it’s questionable whether a potential “Speaker” Paul Ryan would would fit the leadership requirements they are looking for. The conservative Freedom Caucus is committed to the idea that House Republicans fight on issues they care about using the budget process – even if that means shutting down the government. In an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday, Ryan detailed the frustrations of the Republican caucus, but cautioned Republicans to “keep their eye on the prize” of winning the 2016 election. Ryan admitted that Obama was overstepping his legal boundaries as president, but pointed out that it was impossible to pass laws blocking him with him in power. “Look, we’re all very frustrated … the president’s abusing his power, exceeding his limits of his branch of government, and the challenge we have, we can’t change these laws unilaterally, because you have to have a president to sign a law into law. That’s what’s frustrating,” he said. Ryan mentioned the possibility of passing legislation using budget reconciliation – but admitted during the interview that it would fund Obamacare. “We’re moving what we call a reconciliation, which will have Obamacare in it, and that will get to the president’s desk, but we have one bill a year we can use that for,” he said. “So the challenge and the frustration we have is, we don’t have the votes, the 60 votes we need to pass most of these bills we’ve already been passing through the House, through the Senate and to get on the president’s desk,” Ryan said. Ryan said that above all, Republicans had to win the presidency in 2016, signaling that he wasn’t interested in a legislative brawl with Obama. “At the end of the day, we have to keep our eye on the prize, and that is, we need to win 2016,” he said. Ryan also frustrated critics of President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Trade partnership after he led the way for Congress to pass a TPA bill authorizing the administration to negotiate a deal. But during the interview with MSNBC, Ryan declined to endorse the agreement because the final text of the Obama administration’s final deal hadn’t been released. “I wrote TPA so that Congress had the tools and the public would have the ability to see what’s in this agreement,” he said. “I’m for free trade agreements, but I’m for very good trade agreements and I have yet to decide because I haven’t read it yet.” 11:21 UPDATE:
Webster was one of three members vying to replace outgoing Speaker Boehner. He says he’ll stay in the contest. “I said I was running in the conference,” Rep. Daniel Webster tells reporters. “There’s going to be a date set for an election in conference, and I’m going to run in it.
11:18 UPDATE:
Outside the GOP conference, Rep. Daniel Webster spoke to reporters. Asked about Rep. Paul Ryan, Webster said, “I’m not challenging him, I’m challenging the process here.” He vowed to remain in the Speakership race.
11:11 UPDATE:
Democrats including Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)–who supports Ryan’s pro-amnesty position, and has worked with him on the issue–are endorsing Ryan for Speaker of the House. Gutierrez appeared on MSNBC on Friday morning to offer his support for a Ryan Speakership candidacy, proof positive that Ryan’s position on immigration is antithetical to that of most Republicans.
10:47 UPDATE: During a live interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania pointed the finger at House conservatives for the chaos in the House. “If we don’t change the political dynamic, the next speaker will suffer the same fate as Speaker John Boehner,” Dent said. He says he hopes to “marginalize” conservative members. Leadership has bent over backward to appease conservative members, only to have these members vote against leadership, Dent said. He described the Republican meeting as “group therapy.” He also told Bash “The issue is how do we change the political dynamic?”
10:40 UPDATE:
The Conservative Review’s Daniel Horowitz counters the entire Washington establishment’s push for Ryan by making the case that Ryan is by far the worst possible candidate for Speaker of the House. “There is nobody in modern politics whose record and true priorities are more divorced from their rhetoric and public perception,” Horowitz wrote, adding that if Ryan does ascend to the highest job in the House of Representatives it would be an effort by the establishment to gloss over the truth about his non-conservative voting record. “Unlike McCarthy or some of the other choices, Ryan’s ascendancy to the speakership would be hailed as fresh change. In fact, it would serve nothing more than putting the prettiest face on the ugliest policies,” Horowitz wrote. Horowitz added that, now that former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and current House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy–along with Ryan, the three “Young Guns” who steered the House GOP in an anti-conservative direction–have fallen, it’s time for the last “Young Gun” to go down too. “It’s time to let the Young Guns go the way of the Whigs,” Horowitz wrote.
10:29 UPDATE:
Outgoing Speaker John Boehner and Rep. Paul Ryan both walked out of a meeting and past reporters. Neither would answer any questions. Boehner was asked whether he’d be “playing golf this weekend,” but he marched on.
10:27 UPDATE:
Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ), a senior Congressman who served back in the 1990s and then became the chairman of the Arizona GOP before again for the House, said he would serve as House Speaker if there was a pathway. According to Dan Nowicki of the Arizona Republic, he said in a radio interview in Arizona on Friday that he’s not yet sure if there is. But he thinks Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), the chairman of the House Benghazi Select Committee, would easily be elected Speaker.
10:19 UPDATE:
Video of Paul Ryan pushing the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) bank bailout in 2008 is being circulated around among conservatives on Capitol Hill.
“This bill doesn’t have everything I want in it. But it’s a lot of good things in it,” Ryan says while hawking TARP in the video.
“If we fail to do the right thing, heaven help us,” he adds later. “If we fail to pass this, I fear the worst is yet to come.”
Noting that there was an election right around the corner, Ryan pleaded with his colleagues to pass TARP against the wishes of their constituents and even went on to use his family as a tool to argue for TARP.
“We’re all worried about losing our jobs—and most of us say we want this thing to pass but I want you to vote for it not me,” Ryan said in the video on the House floor.
Well, unfortunately, a majority of us are going to have to vote for this. And we’re going to have to do that because we’re going to have a chance of arresting this crash. Just maybe this will work. So, for me and my own conscience, so I can look myself in the mirror tonight, so I can go to bed with a clear conscience, I want to know I did everything I could to stop it from getting worse—to stop this Wall Street problem from infecting Main Street. And I want to get on my airplane and go home and see my three kids and my wife and look them in the eye and know that I did what I thought was right for them and their future. And I believe with all my heart that as bad as this is, it could get a whole lot worse and that is why I think we need to pass this bill.
10:15 UPDATE:
Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah reportedly says he’ll drop out of race if Paul Ryan gets in. Chaffetz was one of three candidates to replace Boehner, along with Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida and Majority Leader McCarthy.
10:10 UPDATE:
The GOP establishment seems to be coming together to back Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for Speaker. A close ally of outgoing Speaker John Boehner, Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, tells MSNBC: “I think eventually Paul Ryan will get into this thing, I really do,” Cole was on Morning Joe. “I think we’ve had two guys fall on their swords for the good of the conference, in this case it’s hard not to step up when there’s an overwhelming demand.”
10:02 UPDATE:
In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Darrell Issa talked about his support for Paul Ryan. “His time is now and many of us believe he will answer the call,” the California congressman said.
Issa added that he doesn’t think Ryan especially wants the job.
“This is not a job he’s seeking, but it may ultimately seek him. “For many of us, he’s the candidate of choice.”
Issa adds that he will not be a candidate for Speaker unless Ryan drops out. “I’d consider it only if Paul Ryan doesn’t run,” he told CNN’s Bash.
9:55 UPDATE:
California congressman Darrell Issa is endorsing Paul Ryan (R-WI) as speaker.
“Paul Ryan is the right man right now,” Issa tells reporters. “Many of us continue to ask him to go from no to maybe and maybe to yes.”
Breitbart News will be bringing live updates here from inside the House GOP leadership battle chaos as the Washington, D.C., political establishment attempts to draft House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) for Speaker of the House.
“If he {Paul Ryan] decides to run, he’d be an amazing speaker,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who dropped out of the Speakership race on Thursday amid rumors of a scandal, said on Friday.
Outgoing House Speaker John Boehner is pushing Ryan for Speaker too.
But the House Freedom Caucus, a senior GOP aide to a senior Freedom Caucus member told Breitbart News, is unlikely to line up behind Ryan. “He’s not a real conservative,” the aide said in a phone interview on Friday morning.
The entire mainstream media and Republican establishment–even Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who has signaled he would consider a speakership bid–is lining up behind Ryan. Issa attempted to push Ryan to run for the Speakership on Friday morning.
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